Facebook invests $1 billion in Virginia

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Facebook invests $1 billion in Virginia

(CNN Money) — Facebook keeps expanding its footprint in the United States. Next stop: Virginia.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, announced Thursday that Facebook will build its next data center in Henrico County, which is just outside Richmond.

Facebook plans to invest $1 billion in the state in all. The company is putting $750 million into construction and $250 million to multiple solar facilities that will power the data center, McAuliffe said.

“Working with companies like Facebook and many others, we are advancing Virginia’s position as a global leader in the technology economy,” McAuliffe said at an event announcing the decision.

Facebook will receive about $19 million in state tax exemptions through 2035, according to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.

Facebook already has data centers in Oregon, North Carolina and Iowa. Centers in Fort Worth, Texas; Los Lunas, New Mexico; and New Albany, Ohio are currently under construction.

“One of the many important factors in our search for a new data center location is being able to source clean and renewable energy. We also look for great partnerships within the local community, robust infrastructure … and a strong pool of local talent,” Rachel Peterson, Facebook’s director of data center strategy, said in a statement.

Even as Facebook weathers criticism for 3,000 Russian-bought ads that appeared on the platform around the time of the presidential election, the platform’s user base — and thus its need for computing power — continues to grow.